i have to say...

crafting at it's best

Big projects frustrate me.  Looking at all of the things that need to be done overwhelms me and leaves me procrastinating.  Taking a step away and focusing on something smaller--and easier--always recharges me and gets me back to where I need to be.

Pattern-making is harder than I thought it would be.  It seems that each step brings some new hurdle and, at this point, I am just happy to set things aside to avoid craziness.  Not only has the production part of it been frustrating, but I am also finding that the cost of printing the pattern may be too costly.  I need to think some more about this.

Setting it aside for now...

A friend and I went to the fabric store last week, and aside from being surrounded by so much loveliness, the break away with her was refreshing.  Good friends are like that, you know.

Some new goodies made their way into my bag (I don't know how that keeps happening!) and I am happy to start creating with them.  A pillowcase dress or shirt for Aubry and a totebag for me seem to be in order, or at least that is what the fabric seems to be saying.  Both projects are simple and relaxing to make, and the cherries with the ric-rac put a smile on my face.  That is crafting at it's best, if you ask me!

Has anyone ever noticed that red is a hard color to photograph?  These looks better in real life, but I wanted to give you a peek anyway:

Have a lovely Monday!

the recipe box swap--on thursday

It's time again!   Can you believe it? 

On Thursday, April 3rd, I will be posting a favorite recipe here on my blog and I invite you to do the same on your blog. I will provide an auto-link at the bottom of my post so that you can leave your post URL so that others can visit and see what you have cookin'.

No theme this time, any recipe you choose will be perfect!

The code for the graphic:

<a href="http://ihavetosay.typepad.com/"><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/ihavetosay/recipeswap.jpg" border="0" alt="swap blogpost"></a>

The code for a sidebar graphic:

<a href="http://ihavetosay.typepad.com/"><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/ihavetosay/recipeswap-1.jpg" border="0" alt="swap sidebar"></a>

I hope to see you on Thursday!

just one more day

My daughter Emily was going through her old "childhood" stuff and found lots of treasures to pass on to Aubry.  So far, Aubry's favorite is the Laura Ingalls sunbonnet and gingham dress that Emily wore over 10 years ago.  In typical Laura-style, Aubry wears the bonnet hanging around her neck, rather than tied as Ma would have had her do.

Watching my kids grow up is a lesson in acceptance.  I have wonderful memories from all these years God has given us together, and as the days draw to a close, my tendency is to hold on too tight and I get caught up in the fear of releasing them to the world.  It is not so much a fear that they will do something wrong or that they will be hurt, it is more the fear of what I will feel like after saying "good-bye".  Good-bye to the days of homeschooling and spending all of our hours together.  These days have been the best years of my life.

On the other hand, I am enjoying the relationships that I have with my kids as they are maturing.  My oldest daughter will be twenty in May and time with her is like time spent with a best friend.   There is no pressure to perform or to impress, just the two of us enjoying, laughing and sharing our lives.  My head knows that the transition will not be so terrible as I am imagining, but my heart  resists shedding the sense of loss that lingers much of the time these days.

My oldest will probably be heading to Vet School in about a year, and my 17-year old will be waving good-bye next February.  It just amazes me that the days have gone so quickly and that we are at the point that I thought would never come.  It is almost here.

Admittedly, I do still have a lot of years with kids in my home, but the reality that full-time parenting is a temporary job is staring me in the face.  Sometimes I wonder if I feel the same as my girls as they are looking at the beginning of their adult lives:  excited at all the possibilities, but fearful at doing something entirely alone.  Looking forward to launching out while peering into the past and wishing it could last just one more day.

Just one more day...

a couple of things...

Today there are new goods in my shop.  Aprons for your girls is what you will find and I hope you enjoy them!

Just a note:  a very sweet blogger sent an email notifying me that one of the links in my "favorite blogs" section had inappropriate content.  Very inappropriate!!!  First off, I want to say "thanks" to her for telling me, and I also want to suggest that you check your links occasionally, because the link she told me about used to be a family-friendly blog that was deleted and then someone else picked up the URL.  I had no clue that could happen!

I also apologize to anyone who was directed there because of me!  Sorry!

Have a great day!

why it's worth it

Saturday morning was beautiful for hiking, breezy warm and early enough not to feel the snow coming. 

The first part of our trek was on this hill where Craig pointed out that he had just driven up this same road yesterday in his Jeep.  I bit my tongue and decided that he was man enough to make his own decisions.  But when Josiah started talking about the time he drove on this road with Craig last summer, I unfortunately didn't keep my mouth shut for that one.

This is the point in the hike where the downward spiral of events took place.

What could have been a great time turned into a disaster, complete with tears and hasty words.  To be honest, the thought of my kids being on this road in a vehicle just seemed ridiculous, and I wasn't about to sit by and act like everything was OK.   

Both of us being stubborn, we continued our trek in silence, walking much faster than normal from all the adrenaline pumping through our veins.  It was one of those time where I wondered why I choose him.  What was I thinking?  Why do I waste my time?

All things of consequence in this life will have us asking these questions at one time or another.  Is the work really going to reap anything of value?  Should I just throw in the towel and do something else, something easier?

Amazingly, it is worth it. 

Marriage is a journey.  A trek across time that you commit to take with another person.  There are never any guarantees, and often the vows taken in the blush of love become hollow when the tough times come. 

And the tough times do come.

Craig and I have had our share of ups and downs.  We have had times when I have sincerely wondered if we would make it through to the end.  Would our differences in personality and opinion push us so far away from each other that we would lose our grip and drift apart? 

God's grace is the only thing that has gotten us this far and my hope is that we continue holding tight enough to Him so that He is able to get us to the end of the road where the view is best.  It is after all of the trudging and struggling and feeling incapable of moving higher, that you reach the point in the trail that reminds you why you do all of this.  The place that whispers softly that there is a reason for all of the hard work you put into your marriage each and every day.

Clinging to Him, clinging to each other.

Our hike continued on its course until finally, we got home and talked.  Funny how a little communication changes things.  We decided that the kids could go on any easy or moderate trails and that I would trust Craig in his choices when it came to taking the kids 4-wheeling.  It was after talking that I realized how thankful I am to have a guy like Craig, one who listens and makes a sincere effort to do things as one, the way the Bible says to.  There are things that drive me crazy about my guy, but somehow those things have an endearing quality that keep me by his side.

The road of marriage is not easy, but I am thankful that Craig is the one hiking by my side.

...a threefold cord is not quickly broken.  Ecclesiastes 4:12

lapbooking

It took us a long time to get around to it, but we finally started lapbooking!

"They provide a perfect place to write notes, draw pictures, and collect images from the computer.  Lapbooks help to organize information while encouraging creativity."

Click here to read more.

welcome, spring!

a list of links

***jcaroline has put together a tutorial to make an adorable purse here.  It has a complete, downloadable pattern!

***How About Orange tells how to make simple button notecards.  Too cute!

***Aimee's post about pre-cycling got me thinking about not only recycling, but whether or not I need to purchase an item in the first place.

***The Wooden Spool shows how to make a baby sling for your child's doll---for your child to tote around, of course!  Too sweet!

***If you don't have any photo-editing software, try this.  It's free!

***Spring cleaning time is upon us!  OK, so it isn't really that exciting, but if you are looking for some help and motivation, click here.

a girl's day

A "girl's day" consists of a few important things:

--giggling and lots of it!
--talking, talking, talking
--telling jokes
--running around the house like crazy people
--crafting, of course
--tears.  OK, with the little girls it was because they were fighting, but still the tears matter.
--food. yummy food that speaks of warmer days to come:

The reminder of warmer days is so welcome since it looks like this outside:

--The girls made the aprons in the first picture by themselves, except for the ric-rac that was already sewn onto the fabric.  They were mighty proud of themselves!

recycling is an old art

The environment is a hot issue right now. It seems that the "hip and new" thing to do is to reduce, reuse, and recycle in order to avoid depleting our resources as well as creating less trash.  I regularly wash Ziploc bags for reuse and I buy food in bulk packages to avoid waste, and I have even started taking my own bags to the grocery store. These things are my way of doing my part.

I do, however, realize that recycling has actually been around for a long, long time.

The original recyclers  were my grandparent's age, children of the depression.  Granted, their reasons for recycling were not generally environmental; they reduced, reused and recycled because their early memories are awash with going without: missed meals, ragged clothes and even homelessness.

My Grandma Mom told me stories of packing up all of the family's belongings, along with the three kids, and heading out to the California desert to live in a tent.  Indefinitely.  Her stories seemed full of laughter and adventure, but I know that the reality must have been quite scary and even hopeless.  I never knew my grandma to make an impulse purchase and she reused jars and boxes for storage rather than using Tupperware.  Food was always homemade, and menus were based on the week's grocery sales.

My Grandma Lita raised 4 children by herself in a time when that was uncommon.  She had a way of spreading a dollar farther than anyone I have ever known.  She made all of her own clothes and grocery shopping was done at several stores in order to tap all of the bargains in town.  Birthday gifts were never extravagant, but the present was always something wanted, generally purchased months ahead of time while on sale.

My husband's grandma is the ultimate recycler.  Birthday cards generally feature a line such as "Happy Birthday Son" with "Grand" neatly scribed to create the appropriate title of "Grandson".  This is in no way tacky or thoughtless on her part, she simply sees no reason for buying something when she can make do with what she already has.  For years she has sent my kids a collection of "Mini-Pages" every couple of months, and I know that, from her, this is a precious gift.

She and her husband both worked for years at McDonald-Douglas and both retired with full pensions, but their only "extravagance" has every been a new car every few years.  Other than that and a small but well-kept house, you would never know that they had much.  Luckily, my husband learned from them about how to handle money.

Reducing, reusing and recycling are important things to do, but just don't make the mistake of thinking that it is "hip and new".  Recycling has been around for a long, long time, but for a while, we just made the mistake of thinking that the old ways were outdated.